“Russian (and Ukrainian) hackers, crypto, and online tech experts have always been ahead of the curve in this realm, and so it takes a huge effort from police to take down these kinds of shops and platforms” — says Daly. The platforms encourage the behavior by paying for advertisements on Telegram channels and even YouTube. The phenomenon has created a subculture of bloggers, YouTubers, and Telegram influencers who have turned dealing drugs into a lifestyle — creating content about their jobs online. Domestically manufactured synthetics are cheaper than trafficked cocaine or heroin and are spiking in popularity in Russia. Suppliers are meeting demand by producing Udemy-like online courses that teach the surprisingly accessible manufacture of synthetic drugs.
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But despite those wins, a years-long war of attrition seems to be exactly the pattern that the dark web’s booms and busts now follow, argues Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Nicolas Christin, a longtime dark web researcher. In an economy where the demand—drug-addicted users—remains constant or growing, that’s only to be expected. However, BBC research earlier this year revealed the most common way for darknet sites to close is via so-called ‘exit scams’ where the administrators voluntarily shut down the sites but steal their customer’s funds in the process. In January the administrators of UniCC, a darknet site selling stolen credit card details, retired, citing health reasons. Drops don’t always go smoothly, and a good reputation is essential to the success of shop owners.
With a soft clunk, the magnet attaches the bag of Russia’s favorite drugs, mephedrone (4-MMC) and alpha-pvp (flakka), underneath the mailbox. The stashman unlocks his phone, takes a picture of the drop, and uploads the coordinates for the buyer. He exits the apartment complex and heads towards his next location — a hollow behind a brick where he will hide a bag of coke. At the bottom is a conveyor belt of poorly paid Russians looking for a financial shortcut amid low prospects and high inflation.
- Some people really are better off using drugs (especially if their use helps them cope with serious trauma—and it often does).
- However, online drug dealers in the ROK are more committed than their Russian counterparts to operational security measures — as demonstrated by their adoption of tactics like one-time use wallets.
- An indictment and criminal complaint are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
- Investigators only realized the scope of the case when they arrested Maximilian S.
- Just seven weeks after a widely publicised, all-out assault by international investigators on darknet markets – and their supporting infrastructure of review sites and bulletin boards – the entire drug-dealing cryptomarket ecosystem is today operating just as it was before.
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According to TRM’s threat intelligence team — which researches crypto-enabled illicit activity including DNMs and the illicit drug trade — “dead drops,” by which drugs are hidden in public places for customers to find, are steadily growing in popularity. And with them come far-reaching implications for law enforcement and public safety. Cryptomarkets may therefore be diffusing a wide range of substances into local offline drug markets.
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Bussweiler confirms that the encryption used in the Tor network prevents investigators from obtaining real IP addresses. “For example, fake purchases are made on the drug platforms in order to obtain further investigative leads from the packages sent,” the public prosecutor reveals. This illegal online system is made possible by a combination of anonymization technology, encryption software, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Initially used on a large scale for illegal online trade, these technologies were developed by an American, Ross Ulbricht. In 2011 he started the Darknet marketplace “Silk Road” under the alias “Dread Pirate Robert,” and in the two years until it was shut down, deals worth around $1.2 billion were concluded via Silk Road.
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TRM research found that vendors using dead drops in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Greece prefer Telegram, Session, and other end-to-end encrypted messenger services to DNMs. One Greece-based vendor tracked by TRM uses Telegram bots to arrange dead drops across Thessaloniki, relying on online geocoding services to provide customers with unique reference points for dead drops and posting the successful pickup in their channel. But even experienced drug vendors make mistakes that can be spotted and exploited by law enforcement armed with the right tools. For example, the chart below shows transactions involving an online drugs vendor traced to the ROK, who receives customer funds from mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges. He was convicted of several charges in 2015, including drug trafficking and money laundering, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued an unconditional pardon for the creator of a dark web drug marketplace, despite months of campaign tough talk toward fentanyl dealers and other traffickers.
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The drug information organization Pill Report has told of people wiring cash to dealers and getting duped, with nothing sent to them. When one such person interviewed by WIRED sent money for cannabis through a cash transfer app but received nothing in the mail, he reported the account. “It became a threatening match and they sent photos of thugs with guns saying they were going to come for me,” he says. For every illegal drug, there is a combination of emojis that dealers and consumers use to evade detection on social media and messaging platforms. Grapes and baby bottles are the calling cards for codeine-containing cough syrup, or lean. Volatility has by now become a routine process used by vendors, users and administrators alike after the fall of each dark web market.
- In 2021, it was estimated some 20 percent of drug purchases in Ireland were being arranged through social media.
- Researchers found that in 2020, 15 percent of GDS participants who reported using drugs in the previous 12 months obtained them from darknet marketplaces—either by purchasing them first-hand or via someone else.
- In January the administrators of UniCC, a darknet site selling stolen credit card details, retired, citing health reasons.
- Before the United Kingdom, where he lives, banned “legal highs” in 2016, he would purchase spice, mephedrone, kratom, salvia and psychedelics from specialty websites.
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Just as Archetyp filled the void left by the dismantling of other online drug markets that existed before it, its successor may already be taking shape. One of the biggest illegal marketplaces on there, Torrez, went offline last month after two years of selling Class A drugs, counterfeit cash and hacking tools. A Southern California duo face federal sentencing for selling tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine on the dark web. Operation RapTor involves law enforcement actions taken by JCODE member agencies, including the DEA, FBI, FDA OCI, HSI, IRS-CI, and USPIS. State, local, and other federal agencies also contributed to Operation RapTor investigations through task force participation and regional partnerships, as well as the multi-agency Special Operations Division.
The vast majority of “down,” as they call the dreary, unpleasant stuff, doesn’t even contain heroin. Plus, the far-too-common grey sort (known confusingly as “grey death,” despite often being on the weaker side) is rather hard to inject. A pale, ashy shade in powder form, it turns pitch-black when mixed with water. This opaqueness makes the flash of blood impossible to see, so you never quite know whether you’ve hit a vein. Now based in Dubai, Telegram was started in 2013 by Russian brothers Pavel and Nicolai Durov and now has 700 million active monthly users.
Srinivasan also used the encrypted messaging application Wickr to communicate with and sell drugs to customers. Srinivasan received virtual currency as payment for the drugs and then routed that virtual currency through cryptocurrency exchanges. Researchers found that in 2020, 15 percent of GDS participants who reported using drugs in the previous 12 months obtained them from darknet marketplaces—either by purchasing them first-hand or via someone else.
There’s no escrow system when you do that and, therefore, no guarantee they’ll actually send you something. One obvious point is the challenge, for people without technical know-how, of accessing dark-web marketplaces through the necessary software. I would be able to do it with the help of my friends’ advice; without it, I’d be stuck relying on online guides that I might not feel comfortable trusting. Canadian software engineer Marie, on the other hand, never even bothered with offline purchasing. Her decision to begin buying drugs online came at an extraordinarily trying time in her life, in 2016.
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Contrary to popular belief, making a loved one become abstinent (even if you can) won’t cure the underlying issues that may have led them to use in the first place. For people who use opioids, it also increases their risk of overdose when they resume use with lower tolerance. Vendors with higher feedback ratings can get away with asking for “early finalization.” This system (along with the reviews and forums) incentivizes them to sell what they say they’re selling; ripping people off has consequences. Using data over the past year from over 1,300 different drug seller listings on the encrypted messaging app in the UK, the average price for a kilo of cocaine fell from £36,000 in April 2022 to just under £29,000 in April 2023.
